The 21st edition of the QS World University Rankings has just revealed the best universities in the world.
The 21st edition of the QS World University Rankings has just revealed the best universities in the world.
The list is once again dominated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, which has held the top spot for 13 consecutive years.
The next two universities are both located in the United Kingdom: Imperial College London, which moved from sixth to second place, and the University of Oxford, which is in third place.
Harvard University was ranked fourth again this year with a score of 96.8, followed closely by Cambridge University, which completed the top 5 with a score of 96.7.
This year’s annual assessment is the largest ever. It includes more than 1,500 universities and is based on the analysis of millions of academic articles and expert opinions from faculty and employers.
Here’s a look at this year’s top ten universities, based on their results in the ranking indicators.
If the United States is the most represented country this year, with 197 establishments ranked, some of which are among the best, Europe is well represented with half of the top ten places, most of which are in the United Kingdom.
The UK alone has the second highest number of universities in the rankings, and four of them made it into the top 10 places.
The best universities in Europe
According to this ranking, the best European universities in 2025 are Imperial College of London (98.5) and the University of Oxford (96.9), both of which rank in the top 3 in the world.
The University of Cambridge (96.7), ETH Zurich (93.9) and University College London (91.6) come next among European institutions.
After the United Kingdom, Switzerland obtained the highest number of places in the European top 10, represented by ETH Zurich, ranked seventh globally, and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) .
France and Germany also climb into the top 10 on the continent, with PSL University and the Technical University of Munich respectively.
Honorable mentions
Internationally, after the United States and the United Kingdom, China has the largest number of universities on the list, with 71 universities.
Two Chinese universities, Peking University and Tsinghua University, made the top 20, with scores of 88.5 and 86.5, respectively.
Singapore’s universities also feature prominently on the list, with the National University of Singapore (NUS) in the top 10 and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU) ranked 14th globally.
